Effectiveness of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Versus Placebo in Subjects at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis: The PURPOSE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background And Hypotheses: In the past 2 decades, substantial effort has been put into research on therapeutic options for people at ultra-high risk (UHR) for developing a first episode of psychosis (FEP), focusing on omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in preventing transition to psychosis. Despite an initial positive finding, subsequent studies failed to find a beneficial effect. The current study aimed to further investigate the effect of omega-3 PUFAs in UHR, to determine whether this line of research is worth pursuing.

Clinical symptoms and psychosocial functioning in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders testing seropositive for anti-NMDAR antibodies: a case-control comparison with patients testing negative.

Background: Antibodies against the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) have been described in the serum of people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (schizophrenia). However, the prevalence and clinical relevance of these antibodies in schizophrenia is unclear. This knowledge gap includes the possibility of such antibodies being associated with a distinct clinical profile, which in turn might warrant a distinct treatment approach.

Psychosis Prognosis Predictor: A continuous and uncertainty-aware prediction of treatment outcome in first-episode psychosis.

Introduction: Machine learning models have shown promising potential in individual-level outcome prediction for patients with psychosis, but also have several limitations. To address some of these limitations, we present a model that predicts multiple outcomes, based on longitudinal patient data, while integrating prediction uncertainty to facilitate more reliable clinical decision-making.

Material And Methods: We devised a recurrent neural network architecture incorporating long short-term memory (LSTM) units to facilitate outcome prediction by leveraging multimodal baseline variables and clinical data collected at multiple time points.

The aperiodic exponent of neural activity varies with vigilance state in mice and men.

Recently the 1/f signal of human electroencephalography has attracted attention, as it could potentially reveal a quantitative measure of neural excitation and inhibition in the brain, that may be relevant in a clinical setting. The purpose of this short article is to show that the 1/f signal depends on the vigilance state of the brain in both humans and mice. Therefore, proper labelling of the EEG signal is important as improper labelling may obscure disease-related changes in the 1/f signal.

Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ): Rationale and Study Design of the Largest Global Prospective Cohort Study of Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

This article describes the rationale, aims, and methodology of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ). This is the largest international collaboration to date that will develop algorithms to predict trajectories and outcomes of individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and to advance the development and use of novel pharmacological interventions for CHR individuals. We present a description of the participating research networks and the data processing analysis and coordination center, their processes for data harmonization across 43 sites from 13 participating countries (recruitment across North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and South America), data flow and quality assessment processes, data analyses, and the transfer of data to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Data Archive (NDA) for use by the research community.

A naturalistic cohort study of first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorder: A description of the early phase of illness in the PSYSCAN cohort.

Background: We examined the course of illness over a 12-month period in a large, international multi-center cohort of people with a first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorder (FES) in a naturalistic, prospective study (PSYSCAN).

Method: Patients with a first episode of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder (depressive type) or schizophreniform disorder were recruited at 16 institutions in Europe, Israel and Australia. Participants (N = 304) received clinical treatment as usual throughout the study.

Extreme deviations from the normative model reveal cortical heterogeneity and associations with negative symptom severity in first-episode psychosis from the OPTiMiSE and GAP studies.

There is currently no quantifiable method to predict long-term clinical outcomes in patients presenting with a first episode of psychosis. A major barrier to developing useful markers for this is biological heterogeneity, where many different pathological mechanisms may underly the same set of symptoms in different individuals. Normative modelling has been used to quantify this heterogeneity in established psychotic disorders by identifying regions of the cortex which are thinner than expected based on a normative healthy population range.

Revealing the impact of psychiatric comorbidities on treatment outcome in early psychosis using counterfactual model explanation.

Introduction: Psychiatric comorbidities have a significant impact on the course of illness in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. To accurately predict outcomes for individual patients using computerized prognostic models, it is essential to consider these comorbidities and their influence.

Methods: In our study, we utilized a multi-modal deep learning architecture to forecast symptomatic remission, focusing on a multicenter sample of patients with first-episode psychosis from the OPTiMiSE study.

Digital behavioural signatures reveal trans-diagnostic clusters of Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease patients.

The current neuropsychiatric nosological categories underlie pragmatic treatment choice, regulation and clinical research but does not encompass biological rationale. However, subgroups of patients suffering from schizophrenia or Alzheimer's disease have more in common than the neuropsychiatric nature of their condition, such as the expression of social dysfunction. The PRISM project presents here initial quantitative biological insights allowing the first steps toward a novel trans-diagnostic classification of psychiatric and neurological symptomatology intended to reinvigorate drug discovery in this area.

Cannabis Use and Symptomatic Relapse in First Episode Schizophrenia: Trigger or Consequence? Data From the OPTIMISE Study.

Background And Hypothesis: This analysis examined the relationship between cannabis use, compliance with antipsychotics and risk for relapse in patients in remission following a first episode of schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorder.

Study Design: Analyses were performed on data from a large European study on first episode of schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorder (OPTiMiSE). After 10 weeks of antipsychotic treatment, 282/446 patients (63%) met criteria for symptomatic remission; of whom 134/282 (47.

Association of Complement and Coagulation Pathway Proteins With Treatment Response in First-Episode Psychosis: A Longitudinal Analysis of the OPTiMiSE Clinical Trial.

Background And Hypothesis: Treatment response to specific antipsychotic medications is difficult to predict on clinical grounds alone. The current study hypothesizes that the baseline complement pathway activity predicts the treatment response and investigates the relationship between baseline plasma biomarkers with treatment response to antipsychotic medications.

Study Design: Baseline plasma samples were collected from first episode of psychosis patients (n = 243) from a multi-center clinical trial.

Efficacy of oral versus long-acting antipsychotic treatment in patients with early-phase schizophrenia in Europe and Israel: a large-scale, open-label, randomised trial (EULAST).

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with periods of remission and relapse. As discontinuation of antipsychotic medication is the most important reason for relapse, long-term maintenance treatment is key. Whether intramuscular long-acting (depot) antipsychotics are more efficacious than oral medication in preventing medication discontinuation is still unresolved.

Cross-disorder and disorder-specific deficits in social functioning among schizophrenia and alzheimer's disease patients.

Background: Social functioning is often impaired in schizophrenia (SZ) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, commonalities and differences in social dysfunction among these patient groups remain elusive.

Materials And Methods: Using data from the PRISM study, behavioral (all subscales and total score of the Social Functioning Scale) and affective (perceived social disability and loneliness) indicators of social functioning were measured in patients with SZ (N = 56), probable AD (N = 50) and age-matched healthy controls groups (HC, N = 29 and N = 28).

Negative symptoms in First-Episode Schizophrenia related to morphometric alterations in orbitofrontal and superior temporal cortex: the OPTiMiSE study.

Background: Negative symptoms are one of the most incapacitating features of Schizophrenia but their pathophysiology remains unclear. They have been linked to alterations in grey matter in several brain regions, but findings have been inconsistent. This may reflect the investigation of relatively small patient samples, and the confounding effects of chronic illness and exposure to antipsychotic medication.

Relationships between social withdrawal and facial emotion recognition in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Background: Emotion recognition constitutes a pivotal process of social cognition. It involves decoding social cues (e.g.

Structural Brain Volumes of Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis: A Meta-analysis.

Background: Structural magnetic resonance imaging studies in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis have yielded conflicting results.

Methods: The aims of this study were to compare intracranial and structural brain volumes and variability of CHR individuals with those of healthy control (HC) subjects and to investigate brain volume differences and variability in CHR subjects with and without transition to psychosis. The PubMed and Embase databases were searched for relevant studies published before June 1, 2020.

The role of depression in the prediction of a "late" remission in first-episode psychosis: An analysis of the OPTiMiSE study.

Objective: The identification of predictors of psychosis remission could guide early clinical decision-making for treatment of first-episode schizophrenia (FES).

Methods: We analyzed two non-independent subsamples of patients with FES ages 18-40 years from the OPTiMiSE study dataset to investigate the demographic and clinical factors that might help to differentiate "late" remitters (i.e.

The effect of prednisolone on symptom severity in schizophrenia: A placebo-controlled, randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Immune dysregulation may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Given the need for new treatment options in schizophrenia, anti-inflammatory medication could be a potential treatment in this illness.

Methods: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or psychosis NOS were randomized 1:1 to either prednisolone or placebo, in addition to their regular antipsychotic medication.

The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and measures in patients with a pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis: A cross-sectional study.

Background COVID-19 has seriously affected physical and mental health world-wide,both due to spreading of the virus and due to the socially restrictive measures most governments have enforced. Increased anxiety, stress and depressive symptoms have been widely reported in the general population. The current study investigated the effects of COVID and the restrictive measures in the Netherlands on stress, anxiety and loneliness in patients with a pre-existing psychiatric disorder.

Effect of disease related biases on the subjective assessment of social functioning in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia patients.

Background: Questionnaires are the current hallmark for quantifying social functioning in human clinical research. In this study, we compared self- and proxy-rated (caregiver and researcher) assessments of social functioning in Schizophrenia (SZ) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and evaluated if the discrepancy between the two assessments is mediated by disease-related factors such as symptom severity.

Methods: We selected five items from the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.

Symptom Remission and Brain Cortical Networks at First Clinical Presentation of Psychosis: The OPTiMiSE Study.

Individuals with psychoses have brain alterations, particularly in frontal and temporal cortices, that may be particularly prominent, already at illness onset, in those more likely to have poorer symptom remission following treatment with the first antipsychotic. The identification of strong neuroanatomical markers of symptom remission could thus facilitate stratification and individualized treatment of patients with schizophrenia. We used magnetic resonance imaging at baseline to examine brain regional and network correlates of subsequent symptomatic remission in 167 medication-naïve or minimally treated patients with first-episode schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, or schizoaffective disorder entering a three-phase trial, at seven sites.